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| | Title:
Far Cry Instincts Predator
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
First-Person Shooter
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Publisher:
Ubisoft
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Developer:
Ubisoft
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Release:
March 2006
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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A few years back a little game known as Far Cry hit the PC gaming scene and caused quite a stir. Whether it was the smart A.I., the amazing graphics, or the technological feat of allowing gamers to go anywhere they could see (literally), Far Cry turned out to be quite a hit. A few years later, the Xbox was graced with its own version of the Far Cry franchise with a game known as Far Cry Instincts. Admittedly while FCI was a great game, it did lack the technical wow that Far Cry had received when released on the PC. Well that “wow” is coming back with the latest news from Ubisoft that they are releasing a new Far Cry game for the 360 titled Far Cry Instincts Predator.
FCIP is a combination of two Far Cry games, one that gamers are already very familiar with and a brand new experience. When players pop FCIP into their 360 they will be presented with two games. The first is a direct port of Far Cry Instincts from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, which may turn off some gamers. Why would they want to play a game they already have on Microsoft’s older system? The answer to this question is simple; Ubisoft is taking full advantage of the Xbox 360 power. So while the story and general locals will be pretty much the same, they will be enhanced by the power of the Xbox 360. These enhancements come in the obvious forms.
First off the game looks amazing, and has taken the title of producing the first truly impressive next-gen water. The water ripples in waves as it should and even the sun reflects as it should. It is impressive but is also hitting some snags. During the tech demo the waves looked painfully the same. One of the beautiful things about water is that is it completely random. Here it does not looks random or seem to change when examined closely. During a second part of the tech demo the camera got much closer to the water. All that seemed to change was the size of the waves, not the shapes. Hopefully, Ubisoft will iron this out and make the water effects much more realistic. Honestly, though, with it being this early into the “next-gen” era I’m guessing it won’t happen. In conjunction with the water the draw distance for FCIP has been enhanced. Gamers can now look further than they ever could before. Vistas are now said to be much clearer. Beyond this there really are no gameplay improvements because of this. The rest of the improvements are all standard for a port of a current generation to a next-gen system. Better A.I., more enemies on screen, and a solid frame rate can all be expected from this game.
It is too early to tell if this game is going to be worth getting or not. Taking the role of Jack Carver once again as he fights though waves and waves of armed to the teeth mercs is without a doubt entertaining, but if we’ve done it all before, what is the real drive for doing it again? Ubisoft is trying to meet this complaint by including Next Chapter into the mix. The details are very slim on this port of the game. All we know is that it is a brand new story, featuring Jack once again. When more details are revealed about Next Chapter (namely if it has new weapons, vehicles, and enemies) it will become much clearer if this game is worthy of sitting in the Xbox 360 library. So far it looks like it is on the right track.
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